This is war
by eJemima
Summary: Klaus is found by someone, asking for help to deal with the situation in Europe. Vampires has been on top of the food chain for years, now they're hunted, abused and slaughtered like animals. Will the Mikaelson's be able to stand up and fight for someone else and something bigger than themselves? Will they finally step up, as the heads of the entire vampire species? Klaus/Iris ;)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Okay, so this is a small test run or a pilot so to speak, to see how ya'll think of it.

It's a story very different from others I've come across out on the big wide web, so I don't know if it'll fall in anyone's taste, but we'll see. And if it's well received, then I might just continue ;)

* * *

Klaus stopped suddenly in the crowd of people.

The streets were full of people celebrating the yearly Mardi Gras. Loud music, shouts and laughter filled the air along with the smell of alcohol and body odor and yet the hybrid had been able to sense it.

It wasn't the first time however. It seemed to have appeared several times over the last few days, every time he went outside.

Klaus let out an annoyed growl and looked around.

A flash of red told him what he needed to know and the next second Klaus was in an abandoned street alley and slammed the person hard against red brick walls.

"I thought I told you 200 years ago, to never show your face in this city again." Klaus hissed angrily, eyes flashing dark yellow, as his grip around the pale throat tightened. Long fingers closed around his fist and with an intense power, his hand was pried off the throat.

"I remember." The female voice was quiet with a hint of bitterness, "And I wouldn't be here if it wasn't absolutely necessary, believe me." Turquoise eyes looked up at him with evident disdain.

"I could go at least another 50 years without seeing your stupid mug," She continued and pushed long red hair away from her shoulders, "but as it turns out and as much as I hate to admit it," She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, "I need your help."

Klaus rose a brow and took a step back.

"That's quite something, coming from you."

The woman glared at him.

"I know, so don't rub in it." She sneered and pushed him away further and walked past him a meter before stopping and looking back at him, "I'm not happy about this – at all, however, desperate situations calls for desperate measures."

Klaus sighed resigned and drove a tired hand through dirty blond hair as he faced the woman.

"Why should I help you?" He asked, not really in the mood to deal with the red head from a past he had happily forgotten all about. The woman clenched her teeth, evidently trying to control her displeasure and walked up to the hybrid, never taking her eyes off him.

"Because if you don't, this will soon effect and most likely destroy this little supernatural haven, you got going on here." She said non-chalantly, "Your beloved New Orleans will, without a doubt, fall apart. This is bigger than you and me, Niklaus." She added empathizing the use of his full name, indicating an emotional distance, as she stopped inches from him, turquoise eyes locked on blue.

A heavy silence fell between the two, as they stared at each other for a long moment. It began slowly and came sneaking like a hunter getting closer to its prey.

Memories of a past tucked away to the furthest part of his mind resurfaced. With the memories came the feelings, the regrets – all the things Klaus had been running from and pushed away, over the last decade. The hybrid clenched his fists absently, fighting to keep it all away and not let it affect him, as he fell deeper into the familiar eyes. He drew a shaky breath and tore his eyes from hers.

"Fine." He mumbled, looking away turning his attention to the people walking by the alley, "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you can leave." He heard a small huff coming from the woman as she moved away from him.

"My words exactly." She said bitterly and headed for the street, "I take that you all still live in the compound?"

The two entered through the gate of the compound and was met with the rest of the Mikaelson family, as they were setting up for dinner. They stopped, frozen in place for a moment, as Klaus walked in with the guest. Rebekah let out a loud gasp and covered her mouth as her eyes lit up in excitement.

"Iris?" Elijah asked confused and put down a plate, not taking his eyes of the guest. The red head smiled and gave him a small nod, seconds before she was pulled into crushing hug by Kol.

"It really is you." Rebekah grinned and walked up to her, pulling her in the moment Kol let her go. Klaus watched the scenes of warm greetings with a sour look for a moment, before he let out a sigh and walked to the table.

"Who is she?" Hayley asked and nodded towards the guest, before crossing her arms, as she leaned against the table next to the other hybrid.

"I remember seeing her with you, quite a few times over the centuries," Freya said walking up to the two, "but I never understood your relationship with her."

Klaus looked away from his siblings and poured himself a drink.

"She's no one." He mumbled into the glass with a hint of bitterness, which wasn't missed by the two women. Freya and Hayley exchanged looks at the obvious lie and decided not to dig deeper into the hybrids discomfort of the red head's appearance.

"Freya, Hayley," Elijah said, coming up to the women, "I want you to meet Iris Mikaelson." He introduced and put a hand on the red head's shoulder, pushing her a little forward.

"Mikaelson?" Hayley asked and looked from one sibling to the other. Kol smiled and put an arm around the woman called Iris, with a crooked grin.

"Our adopted sister and Nik's-"

Klaus got up suddenly, interrupting Kol in his introduction.

"You said you needed our help." He said tensely and glanced at Iris expectantly, "Your reason for being here?"

Iris held his glance for a moment, before she sighed and crossed her arms.

"Yes." She began, her posture calm and serious, "We have a situation in Europe, which is getting worse by the day and have been spreading to Asia and even Africa."

"Which is?" Elijah asked, confused by the cold exchange between his brother and adopted sister, something which both Kol and Rebekah had noticed as well, if the confused look on their faces was anything to go by.

"A systematic, government controlled extermination of vampires and werewolves." Iris told them and drove a hand through her hair, "In every part of the old nations, vampires are hunted down, killed or captured. It's the same with werewolves."

The siblings exchanged looks as Iris continued.

"Most of all, it's like it was with the Spanish Inquisition and witch trials in the past, only there's no trials, only instant death or capture in order for them to find more ways to effectively kill us." Iris paused and drew a sigh as she rested hands on her hips looking around at the Mikaelsons expectantly. A silence fell between them as the words sunk in.

"What started all this?" Elijah finally asked, breaking the heavy silence. Iris looked up at him.

"It began years ago, when our sire-line was broken. Vampires started acting uncharacteristic, losing their humanity and killing for the blood only. I guess that's what trickered something with the human fraction, as they began hunting down and kill everything vampire." The red head explained and shook her head, "Ever since the line was broken, everything has just…" She paused and looked at Klaus, "As much as I hate it, we need your help. Your people needs their sire."

Kol hummed and walked up to stand between the two, looking from one to the other.

"Alright, but before we walk into this war," He said and crossed his arms, "What's up with you two? What's with this coldness? The last time we parted, you two were like two peas in a pot."

Neither Iris or Klaus spoke at first, but merely glared at each other coldly.

"We met in London during the 1920's," Klaus said without taking his eyes from her.

"… and were together until you decided to leave for Mystic Falls." Iris finished and broke away from the blue eyes to look at Kol, "We don't wanna talk about it." She clarified and turned on her heels, "I'll be at a hotel down town, as far from here as possible when you're all ready to hear more." With those last words the red head disappeared in a flash, leaving the Mikaelson family behind with perplexed looks and half a dozen questions. Klaus let out a huff, graphed his drink and headed for his room.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, how did you all like it? Good? Bad? Be sure to let me know so I'll know whether or not to continue this :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Okay, so we're trying out chapter two and see how that fares ;)

Thanks to librocks and 'guest' for your reviews and good advice for the story, I'll do my very best ;) Let me know if there's too much relationship thing ;)

Now, enjoy :)

* * *

...

"Do you think it's true what she said, about vampires being hunted?" Freya asked, as the siblings were gathered in the study later that evening.

"Iris is one of the strongest and most powerful vampires I know." Kol said, as he sat backwards on a chair resting arms on the back of it, "And she's the leader of a worldwide supernatural organization, which makes the Strix seem like harmless puppies," the original added with a crooked grin, "she wouldn't come asking us for help, unless it was absolutely needed."

"But can she be trusted?" Freya continued looking from one sibling to the other, "Surely a powerful asset like that..."

"I don't trust many people," Klaus said from his position leaned against the wall by the door, "in fact; Iris is probably one of the only ones I would fully trust with my life." He said seriously, looking at his sister. Freya blinked with mild confusion.

"I'd think that from the way you two acted with each other earlier-"

"This and that are two completely different matters." Klaus interrupted his sister with a snap, "What happen ten years ago, doesn't change the fact that Iris has been able to do something, not even my own family could." The hybrid added and gave his siblings a accusing look. Kol dropped his head to the back of the chair with a sigh and Rebekah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, changing her position by the window.

"If even Nik trusts her, then I think we're all good. Yeah?" Kol mumbled impatiently and looked up.

"Well," Elijah spoke up for the first time during the gathering, as he had watched and listened to his siblings, "vampires has practically been hunted since the beginning," he began, "however, from the sound of it, never like this."

"I thought that was supposed to end with the inquisition..." Kol added bitterly. A silence fell over the four of the original siblings, as memories of another time - a darker time, flooded their minds.

"It was horrible." Rebekah whispered and shivered visibly, "None of it, is something I'd ever want to experience again. None." She emphasized and met Klaus' eyes with a particular memory in mind. Elijah looked from his sister to brother and closed his eyes with a sigh.

"None of us, ever want to go through something like that again." He pointed out, knowing all too well, as to what his sister was referring. Klaus looked down, fighting to subdue the feelings following the remembrance of the event his siblings was speaking of. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on pushing it all away, however it only became worse, as pictures and sensations rose within him as painful reminders. Klaus let out a gasp, as he opened his eyes. He hated the concerned look his siblings gave him and with a small growl, Klaus flashed away.

"I fear what will happen to him, if something like that should happen again." Rebekah said in a small voice, watching the door, through which, her brother had disappeared. Kol let out a long sigh.

"I'd rather not think about it," He said and shivered before standing up from the chair, "a man can only take so much, even our invincible brother."

Freya watched her siblings in confusion.

"What are you guys talking about?" She asked, "What happened?"

The three vampires exchanged glances before Elijah nodded.

"The reason, as to why and how Niklaus became so feared and hated." He answered his sister, "Our brother wasn't always like that you know."

"A man becomes like that for a reason." Kol added regretfully and headed for the door, "I'll go find Iris, you guys deal with Nik."

 **(...)**

"Oh excuse me. Pardon my clumsiness." The red head apologized as she began gathering the dropped papers. The man held up his hand to stop his people from interfering and kneeled down to help the woman gathering the documents.

"No, not at all." He said and offered the woman a smile, "It's not every day a man is so lucky enough to be run down by a beautiful lady." The man added and blinked. The woman returned it with a shy smile and accidentally touched him as she gathered a lipstick, which had fallen out of her purse in the collision. As they stood back up the woman lost balance and fell into the man. He let out a small as she retraced a hand from his neck.

"You really are quite clumsy, aren't you?" He asked with a delightful grin.

"I'm very sorry, sir." She apologized and looked down in embarrassment, her fingers fiddling with her purse.

 **(…)**

The door to the apartment clicked open and slammed shut moments later. A coat was dropped in the hall along with a pair of high heels.

The dark room was lit up and the computers woken from their slumber.

Iris carefully placed the purse on the desk before she pulled off the tight dress with a relieved sigh. She stretched her neck and headed for her bed to find a t-shirt to pull on.

The vampire went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of blood and collected a few items from the bathroom, before sitting down in front of the screens. She took out the pretend lipstick and put the camouflaged flash drive in one of the computers as she accepted a video call on another.

"How did it go?" A face of a black haired female asked popping up on the screen. Iris made the computer download the flash drive's content and opened up a few other programs before answering.

"It went well. I managed to plant all the spies." She answered distracted, as she was setting up the connections.

"That's not what I meant." The black haired commented and gave Iris a look through the screen. Iris stopped her work on the other computer.

"I know." She said in a low voice and looked at the screen with her friend for the first time. Green eyes looked back at her with an expectant look. Iris sighed and leaned back in the office chair, pulling up one leg to rest on the seat.

"I can't say." She answered regrettably, "It's been so long and so much has happened with them, I hardly know them anymore." Iris sighed and pulled up in her shirt, "I don't know if they believe me, yet alone trusts me."

Iris flinched in pain, as she removed a bandage on the left side of her abdomen, revealing an angry red and exuding burn wound forming a 'v'.

She flipped open a bottle of disinfectant with one hand and poured it over the wound, cursing loudly.

"How does it look?" The black haired asked from the screen, with a concerned look in her eyes. Iris moaned, trying to ignore the pain coursing through her entire body, before she was able to answer.

"No change and still hurts like a bitch." She answered through clenched teeth, "Using magic to enhance wounds is such a dirty trick." Iris hissed angrily and took a small bucket of light green cream, "I don't think it'll ever disappear on its own, however so far your cream is soothing the pain a little." She admitted and put a new bandage on the cleaned and creamed wound, "How is yours?"

Iris asked and looked up at her friend. The black haired woman sighed and shook her head.

"Same." She answered bitterly, "However, I am working on a way to neutralize the magic."

Iris hummed and nodded, giving her friend a sign of appreciation.

"You're doing a great job Anna." She encouraged, "I'm confident you'll figure it out at some point."

A comfortable silence fell between the two, as Iris returned to working on the computer, sorting out some of all the data she'd collected during the day. Anna did the same, looking through the info Iris had send her.

"Did you tell them about it?" Anna asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Iris didn't answer her friend at first, but held her focus on the other screen.

"No." She finally answered, "No, I didn't."

"And why the fuck not?" Anna questioned with a hint disappointment, "Don't you think it's fairly important to tell them what they do to the vampires they capture? The things we went through for four bloody years, Iris!" Anna exclaimed angrily, "Don't you think that the fact that humans work together with witches, to exterminate every single vampire, is an important detail they should know about?!"

Iris clenched her fists, tensing up, thinking about what Anna said.

"Most of all," Iris whispered through gritted teeth, "most of all, I'd rather just forget it all."

"We can't." Anna said immediately, making Iris look at her, "Even if we wanted to, they made damn sure we couldn't. Not even after escaping their grabby hands."

Iris absently touched the bandage on the wound she had just cleaned. She felt the pain as a constant reminder of her four years enduring a living hell. Excruciating pain, humiliation, abuse… there had been no end to it. Iris had endured something similar, from the Nazis during the second world war, but as the humans had evolved and grown smarter over the years, so had their means of abuse. Stigmatizing and branding had been used for slaves and to single out a certain group of people, to visualize their little worth and to disgrace them, marking them like animals.

This was what vampires had become, nothing more than animals. Liquidated as useless pets or held as slaves for experiments and means of entertainment for the high profile humans.

Iris turned in the chair to look back at Anna.

"We need them Iris." Anna said with a hint of urgency, "Whatever happened between you and Nik ten years ago, you have to put it behind you for now."

The red head drew a long sigh and nodded reluctantly.

"I know." She breathed and closed her eyes for a moment, "It's just…" Iris interrupted herself, as she suddenly froze in her seat. She held up a hand to signal Anna to be quiet and got up. The red head picked up a gun from the kitchen counter on her way to the front door. She stood ready by the door and listened closely as steps drew nearer on the other side. The moment the steps stopped in front of the door, Iris ripped the door open and fired a round of bullets.

The gunfire was received with a surprised shriek, followed by a painful groan and a familiar voice.

"What the heck was that for?!"

Iris opened her eyes by the sound of the annoyed voice and smiled apologetic, when she saw who it was.

"Sorry Kol." She apologized and lowered the gun. Kol glanced up at her as he pulled out the iron bullets in his chest with a little effort.

"It's always been shoot first and ask questions later with you, hasn't it?" Kol asked with a crooked grin, as he pulled out the last bullet. Iris lifted the gun and twirled it in her hand, smirking self-satisfied.

"Which is why I'm still alive." The red head pointed out and took a step back, inviting the older vampire inside, "Can I offer you something?" She asked and placed the gun back on the kitchen counter, "Blood, alcohol?"

Kol held up his hand and shook his head politely.

"No thanks, I'm good." He answered and rounded the counter, watching Iris as she shrugged and poured herself a dry whiskey.

"Looking sexy in the baggy t and panties, by the way." Kol commented and blinked at her, "It's well matched with the very… minimalistic and somewhat barren interior." He added and turned to look around in the connected living room, which consisted of an armchair, a floor lamp and the three computers on a long desk and one office chair. The curtains were pulled, letting in a little light from the moon and city light on the early evening. Iris stood leaning against the stove, next to the refrigerator, facing Kol sitting by the kitchen isle. She took a sip of the strong drink and gave Kol a questioning look.

"What?" She asked with a raised brow at the original, "I'm here for work, I don't need more than this."

"Which is what, exactly?" Kol asked and leaned forward on the counter, "Your work." He elaborated when Iris gave him a confused look. Iris finished the drink and placed the empty glass in the sink and headed for the computers, signaling Kol to follow her.

"I'm trying to figure out what the heads of this city knows and does." She said and pulled up several programs of videos and voice recordings, "I've placed small electric spies in several or this city's richest, making me able to see and hear everything they do."

Kol leaned down on the desk, getting a closer look at the screen, showing the scenes of over dozens of people and whistled impressed.

"How were you able to arrange all this?" He asked and glanced back at Iris. The red head smirked wickedly.

"Why, using my female charm and wit of cause." She answered and blinked.

"Those poor lads," Kol said and shook his head looking back at the screens, "they didn't stand a chance."

"Oh I don't know," Iris grinned and leaned back in the chair, pulled up one of her legs, "I thought I was fairly generous." A silence fell between them, as Kol admired the younger vampire's handiwork and spy abilities, before he remembered something or rather someone, which had been one of his reasons to go find Iris without his siblings.

"Speaking of female wit and charm…" Kol began reluctantly and looked at Iris, "You said that vampires had been captured and killed… Is…?" The original had a hard time asking the question, in fear of hearing news, which he wasn't sure he knew how to handle at this point. Nevertheless, Iris seemed to be able to understand his half asked question and smiled genuinely and pushed herself back to another computer and turned on the screen.

"I do believe Kol is asking about you." She said to the screen and glanced at Kol with a knowing grin. Iris got up from the chair and handed it to Kol. He gave her a nervous smile and sat down hesitantly, facing the screen.

"Hello love," Anna's cheerful voice emerged from the speakers, "It's been a while."

Kol laughed and shook his head, not losing the gentle smile grazing his lips.

"But what's 200 years between lovers, right?" He offered, somewhat shy. Anna chuckled and agreed with his statement. Kol slowly reached out his hand and touched the screen, with a gentle look in his eyes.

"I'm relieved to see you're okay." He admitted quietly and leaned in, resting his head on the cold screen, "When Iris first told us what was going on, my first thought was you."

"I'm fine." Anna said, returning the gesture, "At least as fine as I can be, with everything going on. I'm at Chur at the moment, with the rest of the coven. We're safe here."

Iris stood still, watching the two, as they spoke together for the first time in two centuries. Being close with the Mikaelson's and being part of their family for 900 years, Iris knew them better than most and she had seen sides of them, which most people couldn't even imagine they had. This side of the notorious playboy and vampire Kol, was one of those sides. Much like his brother Klaus, Kol had had countless of lovers through the years, but only loved very few. For the past eight centuries, her friend Anna had been one of those very few to Kol.

Iris walked to her bedroom, leaving the two to talk private and catch up on the years apart. The red head dropped herself on the bed face first and regretted it immediately as her wound met friction. She turned on the bed with a small hiss and stared up in the ceiling. Iris hated this. She really did, however, there had been no choice. After finally being able to escape their prison of four years, they had to try something different. They needed the help. Iris let out a long breath and covered her eyes with her arms. Anna had been right. She just had to suck it up for now and be sure to survive the next few years.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, how did you like it? Worth continuing?


End file.
